Orioles Call Up Top Prospect Manny Machado

Last night the surprising Baltimore Orioles finished off sweeping the Seattle Mariners to maintain a tie for the Wild Card lead with 49 games left but what happened after was even more shocking: they called up top position prospect Manny Machado from AA Bowie. Wow!

Machado just turned 20 and the shortstop is rated the #9 best prospect in the game. It was expected or widely forecast that he wouldn't make an impact on the big league club till 2013 at the earliest. Tonight he will start at third base against the Kansas City Royals. Hot Damn!

"Manny can be a plus and help the team," Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said. "The kid has a lot ot talent. It sounds like Buck will play him at third base."

Machado was the third overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft out of high school in Miami. He has played only 2 games at third base with the majority of his time at shortstop. Shortstop is occupied by JJ Hardy and they don't plan on moving Hardy any time soon. The Orioles have struggled to get production out of third base all season with the combination of Mark Reynolds and Wilson Betemit both at the plate and defensively. Machado is considered to have a plus glove.

Whether or not this is the right move for the Orioles organization remains to be seen. Some consider rushing a prospect to the Majors not a good move because of fear of ruining one's confidence. I can see the rationale in the thinking but if you got the enormous talent like Machado possesses he will adjust his game and be fine. The good thing about the Orioles position right now is they aren't putting all their stock and future on Machado's shoulders. He isn't seen as the savior. He is just another piece to hopefully getting them into the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

In other words: Don't Fuck It Up Kid!

Oh yeah and good luck.